2008-2007

Faculty Publications

How do cities transform over time? And why do some cities change for the better, while others deteriorate? In Urban Transformation, a stimulating journey for students and professionals engaged in urban design, planning, and architecture, Peter Bosselmann articulates new ways of reading and understanding urban areas. Through his analysis, supported by numerous color maps and images, readers learn to “see” cities anew. The fresh vision Bosselmann offers will inspire innovative solutions to familiar urban problems.

What separates good architecture from great architecture? The difference lies in the details. The way an architect chooses to treat architectural detailing–screens and walls, doors and windows, roofs, bridges, and stairs–can transform the merely ordinary into the extraordinary. Detail in Process, the second volume in the new AsBuilt series, features twenty-five awe-inspiring projects characterized by an unusual synthesis of aesthetics and materials.

Currently it is estimated that one half of the world's population—approximately three billion people on six continents—lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. And while the vast legacy of traditional and vernacular earthen construction has been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the contemporary tradition of earth architecture. Author Ronald Rael, founder of Eartharchitecture.org, provides a history of building with earth in the modern era, focusing particularly on projects constructed in the last few decades that use rammed earth, mud brick, compressed earth, cob, and several other interesting techniques. EARTH ARCHITECTURE presents a selection of more than 40 projects that exemplify new, creative uses of the oldest building material on the planet.

This book explores four centuries of Boston life including the apple orchard of the first settler, the squares and townscapes of Charles Bulfinch, the wharves and seaport of Yankee Clippers, the Beacon Hill of runaway slaves and abolitionists, the parks and greenways of Frederick Law Olmsted, the South End of sleeping car porters and jazz musicians, the dwellings of eminent writers and artists, and some of the greenest buildings of the twenty-first century. This book is a superbly written history of Boston’s built environment, filled with insider details and engaging anecdotes about more than 600 buildings.

At the forefront of the postwar phenomenon known as tropical modernism, Vladimir Ossipoff (1907–1998) won recognition as the “master of Hawaiian architecture.” Although he practiced at a time of rapid growth and social change in Hawai`i, Ossipoff criticized large-scale development and advocated environmentally sensitive designs, developing a distinctive form of architecture appropriate to the lush topography, light, and microclimates of the Hawaiian islands.

Representing Landscape Architecture offers a broad investigation of how the designed landscape is and has been represented: for design study, for criticism and even for its realization. It has been said that we can only realize what we can imagine. But in order to realize we must convey ideas to others as well as to ourselves. Representation is by no means neutral and the process of communication, the process by which the imagination takes its first form, itself necessarily limits the range of our design possibilities. Computers further remove from cognitive processes and raise new questions about methods and limits. Written by a team of renowned practitioners and academics, this book is the best available reference to date on the many dimensions of landscape representation.

The use of new media in the service of cultural heritage is a fast growing field, known variously as virtual or digital heritage. New Heritage, under this denomination, broadens the definition of the field to address the complexity of cultural heritage such as the related social, political and economic issues. This book is a collection of 20 key essays, of authors from 11 countries, representing a wide range of professions including architecture, philosophy, history, cultural heritage management, new media, museology and computer science.

This visually stunning, conceptually rich and imaginative book investigates the cultural connection between new media and architectural imaging. Through a range of material, from theoretical texts to experimental design projects, Tierney explores notions of what the architectural image means today. Within the book's visually imaginative design framework, Abstract Space engages discourses from architecture, visual and cultural studies to computer science and communications technology to present an in-depth multi-media case study. Tracing a provisional history of the topic, the book also lends a provocative and multivalent understanding to the complex relations affecting the architectural image today.

Prefabricated construction is a hot topic in architecture these days, and for good reason. Architects Mark Anderson and Peter Anderson have been working with prefab buildings for more than fifteen years. With Prefab Prototypes, they break prefab down into six systems, from most flexible to most complicated–panel-ized wood framing, sandwich paneling, steel framing, timber framing, concrete systems, and modular systems. Each chapter delves into the benefits and drawbacks of its respective method, and features detailed plans, sections, and photographs of projects they've completed that use each of these systems. The resulting book is both a lush depiction of their prefab output as well as an in-depth analysis that will prepare you for taking the plunge into prefab building.

This collection of hauntingly beautiful photographs reflects artist Jean Paul Bourdier's desire to see the environment from the inside out. He paints the bodies of his models to symbolize how humans can become one with the landscape. The models themselves are transformed into the desert. Bourdier takes us to the desert for inspiration, to seek visions, to commune with nature in its purest, wildest form. Digitally unaltered, Bourdier aligns the body with the landscape, and renders it onto the body of his subjects creating unforgettable images. Jean-Paul Bourdier's work is a reflection of his varied interests; as a professor of architecture, photography, design, and visual studies at the University of California, Berkeley.